Further Details

Title: Locking Up Our Own
Condition: New
Subtitle: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Author: James Forman, Jr.
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0349143684
EAN: 9780349143682
ISBN: 9780349143682
Publisher: Abacus
Genre: Society & Culture
Topic: Social Sciences, Law & Politics
Release Date: 04/10/2018
Description: Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction

Longlisted for the National Book Award

One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2017

Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of colour. In LOCKING UP OWN OWN, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation's urban centres.

Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessness - and thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice. But the policies they adopted would have devastating consequences for residents of poor black neighbourhoods.

A former public defender, Forman tells riveting stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants and crime victims. He writes with compassion about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas - from the men and women he represented in court to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency.LOCKING UP OWN OWN enriches our understanding of why American society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system.
Language: English
Country/Region of Manufacture: GB
Item Height: 197mm
Item Length: 127mm
Item Width: 20mm
Item Weight: 250g
Release Year: 2018

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